Mukaddes
Akdeniz had, for a while, been teaching "Life Skills and Social
Activities" at Tekirdag Namik Kemal University's Department of
Chemistry. Two years ago, on December 30, 2011, when a student, M.C.,
during a presentation on the Battle of Gallipoli, claimed that "the
imams and saints won the battle with their frocks," Akdeniz objected to
this claim on the basis that "it is not scientific." Another student
gave a presentation on [the renowned Ottoman Empire architect] Mimar
Sinan. Yet another student, during his/her presentation on the history
of Tekirdag, said that the Armenian, Greek-Orthodox and Jewish
populations of the city were all gone now. Following this presentation
Akdeniz lamented that "we could not protect our cultural heritage" and
recounted the story of a friend of hers who, after denigrating Armenians
for years, had found out during his/her grandmother's funeral that she
was actually of Armenian descent. The class ended thus; and yet, the
"trial" of Akdeniz was only beginning.

M.C.,
who had presented on the Battle of Gallipoli, submitted a letter to the
Dean on January 4, 2012, with the complaint that he/she had received a
failing grade. According to M.C., Akdeniz had stated that there "is no
other battle as nonsensical as the Gallipoli," had defended the
Armenians and imposed her own views on the class. "Me and the rest of
the class, we all learned that day that our teacher's family is of
Armenian origin" said M.C. Another student, E.G., claimed that "these
comments were belittling the Battle of Gallipoli, a source of pride for
our nation, and were detrimental to the unity of the nation." A.K.,
another student of Akdeniz's said: "I find it disturbing that, in class,
she imposes on us feminism and topics of political content."

On
April 9th, Akdeniz encountered in the papers the news that she had
allegedly insulted Gallipoli veterans, and had stated: "Do not fool
yourselves with this rubbish. The real war is Kurdish people's war for
independence." Following these, Tekirdag Anti-Terrorism Bureau heard the
testimony of twelve students. The students claimed that Akdeniz had
maintained "Armenians were the first to offer help following the
earthquake in Van," and that she was "teary-eyed when talking about her
friend's relationship to her Armenian identity, as if she was talking
about herself." However, they reported that she had not stated "The real
war is Kurdish people's war for independence," and that she might have
rather said "The real issue is our struggle for independence." All of
the students spoke of how "she had not engaged in any propaganda about
any political ideology or terrorist organization" but that she had
mentioned "the poor administration by the government, lack of justice,
women's oppression and income inequality."

Regardless,
the police report claims that Akdeniz had used the term “worthless” in
regards to the Battle of Gallipoli, that she had stated “I am from the
city of Kars, but I am of Armenian descent,” had praised the student
presentation on Mimar Sinan by saying “Thank you for preparing slides
that illustrate the problems of Armenians,” and had stated “Not only
Turkish people live in this country, Armenians and Kurds live here, too.
You cannot ignore them.” As a result, the report claimed that Akdeniz
“might incite animosity and hostility by engaging in propaganda against
the State, and could thus endanger public safety by igniting potential
conflict.” In addition, the report asserted that she had spread PKK
propaganda via the expression “The real issue is our struggle for
independence.” The police report also stated that Akdeniz is being
investigated for allegedly spreading PKK propaganda because she had
attended the Nevruz celebrations in the city of Çorlu in 2010. Her case
has been sent to Istanbul Public Prosecutor's office in charge of TMK
(Turkish Civil Code) 10.

The Office of the President of
Namık Kemal University took action in accordance with the police. They
started an investigation claiming that [Akdeniz] “strayed away from the
syllabus, and expressed personal statements disparaging the state,
derogating national and moral values and aiming to promote certain ethic
groups” and that [she] “forged attendance sheets for the three weeks
that she was absent.” According to the claims [of the university], she
had rescheduled one class, the following week she could not make it due
to the news of her parents’ cancer, and the week after that she returned
to find an empty class. However, it is said, she collected course
payments as usual. The Office of the President concluded their
investigation with the suggestion that she be laid off, claiming that
she “had unaccounted extra income.” The judicial clerk for the
Disciplinary Committee of the Board of Higher Education, Beril Dedeoğlu,
in her statement dated 28 February 2003, suggested that the punishment
should be approved, but, that due to Akdeniz's good standing, it should
be deemed as “supposition of retirement from office.” The Board of
Higher Education affirmed this claim and dismissed Akdeniz from
profession.